The Southern Highlands is home to one of 19 koala populations across New South Wales identified as a priority for investment under the NSW Koala Strategy.
The Southern Highlands koala population is divided by the Hume Highway, creating 2 key population areas:
- The Great Western Wildlife Corridor – a critical connection linking the Blue Mountains and Morton wilderness areas through Canyonleigh and Guula Ngurra National Park.
- The Upper Nepean State Conservation Area on the Woronora Plateau, which is an important climate refuge.
How does the regional partnership support koala conservation?
We are supporting our partnership with Wingecarribee Shire Council with $600,000 under the NSW Koala Strategy.
This funding supports a dedicated koala officer, based at Wingecarribee Shire Council, who coordinates local projects to help conserve koalas and their habitat in the region.
Other agencies and organisations that support the partnership include NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, South East Local Land Services, WaterNSW, Forestry NSW, the University of Sydney and Murrindyarr Aboriginal Corporation.
What work is being undertaken?
The partnership is building on the success of previous koala conservation work funded by the NSW Government, including:
- coordinating koala habitat restoration on private land
- coordinating the koala priority population monitoring program
- developing core koala habitat and corridor maps
- supporting the local koala carer community
- community engagement and education.
Additional support is being provided to:
- restore 50 hectares of koala habitat on private land and in Guula Ngurra and Bangadilly national parks, Wollondilly Nature Reserve, Upper Nepean State Conservation Area and WaterNSW land
- create koala habitat maps in the Wingecarribee Local Government Area
- pilot strategies to reduce the impact of vehicle strike on the local koala population.
This brings the total investment in Southern Highlands koalas to more than $1.2 million.